great blues bands people should be listening to

great blues artists people should be listening to

just thought i'd share some of the great blues bands out there, otherwise people will assume blues is only about Clapton, SRV, John Mayer Johnny Winter or Gary Moore

here is the first one:

Little Charlie and the Nightcats. (www.littlecharlie.net)

one of the two heavyweights of the westcoast blues scene, they are what alot of aspiring blues bands hope to be:

"Powerful...outrageous...wonderful....Baty's immediately recognizable guitar style and Estrin's uniquely twisted and humorous lyrical vision [make] Little Charlie and the Nightcats one of the most successful proponents of the blues/swing /rock/jazz synthesis so popular today." --Living Blues

"Rollicking, super-cool, jazzy and hip...satirical, sharp lyrics and killer guitar and harp solos. It just doesn't get any better then this." --Blues Revue

Sacramento-based blues, swing and jump masters Little Charlie & The Nightcats have much in common with their feline counterparts. They take great (musical) leaps and always land on their feet, they're constantly on the prowl (gigging all over the world), and, with all of the various styles of music they play, they seem to have many lives. Their new CD, NINE LIVES, is the ninth album of their remarkable career. As on their previous recordings, they combine unsurpassed musicianship and inventive lyrical vision with their deep understanding of blues and jazz traditions to produce music that is both technically brilliant and soulfully streetwise. "Endlessly impressive," raves the Associated Press. "Marvelously entertaining and brilliantly played," agrees the San Francisco Examiner.

For Estrin, songwriting is an important art form. "I like songs that tell stories," he says, "songs that are well-crafted and meaningful." He cites Sonny Boy Williamson II, Willie Dixon, Percy Mayfield, Baby Boy Warren and Leiber and Stoller as his main songwriting influences. As a harp player, Estrin has few peers. "Rick Estrin sings and writes songs like the brightest wise guy in all bluesland and blows harmonica as if he learned at the knee of Little Walter," raved Down Beat. "Estrin is a heralded genius of the harmonica, as well as a foremost songwriter," said The San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Matching Estrin's prowess lick for lick are Baty's wild, seemingly impossible guitar excursions. From Charlie Christian-like jazz to Chicago blues to West Coast swing and rockabilly, Baty has all the genres mastered. He seamlessly blends various elements into a guitar sound that is his alone. "Little Charlie Baty plays as much guitar as Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy put together," raved The Village Voice. "He is one of the most fluent guitarists working in any genre."

Baty first met Estrin in the early 1970s while Baty was a harmonica-playing UC Berkeley student. With Rick already an accomplished harp player, Baty decided to switch to guitar full time and the two formed a blues band. After relocating to Sacramento, Baty quickly emerged as a take-no-prisoners, one-of-a-kind guitarist, equally at home playing swing, jazz, blues, or any variations he could imagine. With the addition of a drummer and a bass player, Little Charlie and the Nightcats were born.

In 1986 the band sent an unsolicited tape to Alligator Records. Alligator president Bruce Iglauer was blown away. He flew to Sacramento to see the band perform and was sold. Their debut album, ALL THE WAY CRAZY, was released in 1987 to overwhelming success. Almost immediately they went from playing small Sacramento blues clubs to performing concerts and festivals around the country and around the world. After six more studio albums an a greatest hits disc, guitarists, harp players, songwriters, fans and critics remain overwhelmed. "Can anyone name a better guitarist than Little Charlie?" asked Blues Revue. "Who can out-tough Rick Estrin? Little Charlie and the Nightcats play some of the deepest blues out there."

"We're good at putting on a show," boasts Estrin. "People don't go out to see people who look like them. They want to see something special. I was schooled in this business to be a showman, and that's what you get when you come to see us." The Chicago Reader described their live show as "party exuberance in the context of superb musicianship. Baty sometimes sounds as if he's growing musically right in front of your eyes."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4S0-UBjeJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhW6yB1IT78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ils-kULbf_A

hey man, there's this new orleans band tht i got the priviledge of watching live. their called jon cleary and the monster gentlemen

I vote for chris duarte and ten years after

GOVERNMENT MULE!!!!!!!!!! not strictly blues but you got to listen to them, warren haynes is the best blues rock guitarist alive right now.

glblues,

Great thread! I'd like to have more recommendations from you?

Sue Foley, baby...

here's one more. i'll post one a day or something like that.

finishing off with the west coast players first. here's another killer guitar player that has the respect of many of the old blues guys. looks a bit like ZZ Top and also a member of the old canned heat, believe it or not

Junior Watson:

With nearly thirty years of experience, Junior Watson has reached cult status. Junior has done what all great artists have done: melting diverse styles to create a style all his own. With influences as diverse as Tiny Grimes, Oscar Moore, Bill Jennings, Rene Hall, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Guitar Slim, Earl Hooker and others he has truly created one of the most unique and original guitar voices to come along in years. Besides his mastery of blues and swing he often adds his own cartoon-like twist to everything he plays. You'll never know what he will do and when asked he doesn't know himself. His energy and playing gives you a feeling of reckless abandonment. As he was once quoted "like a train off the tracks".

His artist resume is as large as it is impressive. A founding member of The Mighty Flyers he stayed with the band for ten years. He then left to join Canned Heat for ten years. He then toured for a while with LA-based harmonica player/vocalist Lynwood Slim. All along the way he has backed up and recorded with the who's-who of the blues. His list of musical endeavors include backing up and recording with Big Mama Thorton, George Smith, Jimmy Rogers, Shakey Jake, Luther Tucker, Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, William Clark and there's more. Suffice to say the list is very extensive.

In the past Junior has always been the sideman or featured artist. For the first time in his career he has a band that is taking the back seat and having Junior do all the driving. For the first time you can hear this amazing, original artist wail all night long. This fact alone is exciting and when unleashed, Junior will prove to the rest of the blues community what his cult status is all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBYrqkepV-k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL00F8eH2xQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4bVY9iEDbg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SBntGgWrdE

Another west coast player but he's trying to do something different.

Rick Holmstrom:

actualy known for his adventurous blues CD - Hydraulic Groove, which introduced alot of interesting blues ideas with dance music. it was both praised and panned. No proper sound clips here, only sound bytes.
here's the link: remember that it was recorded in 2002. that was cutting edge even for dance music back then:
http://www.altnet.com/store/album/45371/Blues/Hydraulic_Groove/John_Medeski/index.aspx

here's his bio after releasing his album after that:
Rick Holmstrom
You might not expect to hear a twenty year veteran of the blues and roots scene say: "After all the time I've spent making records in front of computers, it was a blast to rip one out old school again." But things are not always as they seem and Rick Holmstrom is not your average guitarist. This is the guy, after all, whose last record is frequently heralded as one of the most innovative blues & roots releases of the last few decades.

After blowing the gray felt fedoras off of hidebound blues purists everywhere with his sample-drenched, jump blues-meets-breakbeats Hydraulic Groove (2002), Holmstrom has in some ways come back to his roots with Late In The Night. Recorded, mixed and mastered in less than 2 weeks. Late... is, according to Holmstrom: "The sound of me left to my own devices."

Holmstrom tells it: "Yeah, it's been nearly five years since Hydraulic came out, so naturally folks must think I've been sitting around eating cheeze whiz and watching Conan re-runs. Sounds good, but that's not the story. I've been plenty busy. In fact, Late... is the fifth record I've worked on since Hydraulic Groove came out. First, I got about half way through a super-raw garage recording back in 2003, then I spent countless hours on computers with Genome (his collaborator on Hydraulic Groove) working on a Hydraulic Groove follow up, then I started another all instrumental record, then in early January 2006 we recorded a live record that was slated to come out in spring 2006. After months of record company shake-ups, I was set to release the live record on M.C. Records, but at the last minute I changed my mind. It had been nearly a year since it was recorded and I knew we could do better, so I decided to shelve it and start over.

"Funny thing is, after all of this trouble, I made a much better record by just knocking it out. A buddy had came out to a recent show and remarked: 'Too bad you didn't record the live record with this band' after seeing my trio with Stephen Hodges and Jeff Turmes (longtime bandmates who've played and recorded with the likes of Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, R.L. Burnside and the Fabulous Thunderbirds). The live record was the same band augmented by more pieces, which sometimes led to clutter. The trio, which at first was an economic necessity, proved to be an inspiring situation. We all agreed to "embrace the space" and not become a typical power trio. The stripped down lineup gave us room sonically. Things started to breath. And then I also had a batch of new songs, songs that were better than any I'd written before, plus we had been playing some of the songs for awhile, so I just decided to go for it, regardless of how little time we had to make the record."

Now just because he ditched the computer based beats & samples aesthetic doesn't mean Holmstrom's unique artistic flair was compromised on Late... This is a rare modern record where buzzsaw toned Link Wray-meets-Gatemouth Brown guitars meet a literate, nuanced (and in a couple of instances even political) songwriting point of view. "Well," Holmstrom admits, "yeah, it's hard not to write something that reflects on the sorry state of affairs today. But I try to do it in a way that feels right to me. Understated, I suppose. Hydraulic Groove proved that I'm not interested in writing 'ooh baby you're so fine' 50's style blues tunes anymore, but then again, I'll leave the deep poetry end of things to the Prine's, Neil's, Lucinda's and Dylan's, dig? What I'm trying to do, basically, is come up with songs that I want to hear...songs that are simple, that have vivid imagery, strong melodies, and that also have the kind of lowdown, gritty sounds and energy that get my blood pumping. Sort of like early 50's Sun Records-era Pat Hare meets J.J. Cale on a bender."

The story has been told many times but it's worth repeating...Holmstrom was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. His parents filled their home with the sounds of 50's rock, surf music and the Beatles. His father was a disc jockey who took him to see Chuck Berry at an early age. After messing around with the guitar for awhile, Holmstrom gave it up for sports through his teen years. But while attending college in Redlands, CA, he joined a band that played blues and roots rock at parties for beer. After graduating in 1987, Holmstrom found himself deep into a flourishing Los Angeles blues scene. Stints with stalwarts such as Smokey Wilson, William Clarke, Johnny Dyer, Rod Piazza and the old Hollywood Fats Band led Holmstrom to play and record with legends such as Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold, Jody Williams and R.L. Burnside. After fifteen years of heavy touring as a sideman, Holmstrom formed his own band in 2002 and hit the road in support of Hydraulic Groove.

"I'm glad I made that record," Holmstrom reveals, "even though it pissed a lot of folks off. In fact, I'm really proud of it. It was heartfelt. Every record ought to be exactly what you're into at that time. Why hold back? I was into seeing what could be done with beats and samples, especially after my experience with R.L. Hip hop and electronica artists were really making interesting records at that time, at least to me, and I wanted to see what kind of weird juxtaposition I could come up with using my style of blues and these cut up beats. But ultimately, after touring for a couple of years with a tightly rehearsed band trying to re-create the record live, it became a bit of a drag. I started to long for musical freedom. Like Dylan says: ‘I'm a musical expeditionary’."

Enter Late In The Night…all 60 cycle hum, dark ambient textures, punchy dynamics, tape echo, and space. Doug Boehm (who's also walked a traditional-meets-futuristic line with artists such as Beck, Moby, the Vines, and R.L. Burnside) mixed Late In The Night with an emphasis on grit that still retains the best of Holmstrom's signature futuristic sound. Late In The Night is the sound of Rick Holmstrom distilling his 20 years of playing and recording down into blues for the 21st century...and who says creating that kind of sound has to be done on a computer?

tracks for Late Into The Night can be heard here:
http://www.myspace.com/rickholmstrom

youtube links. not as innovative but great tone, interesting guitar and he's playing through an old tube-driven radio!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXzZzD5aEJw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBYBqAo9JJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRpZZJpuI_Y

here's someone more famous, commonly known as the master of the telecaster or the iceman. i'm sure some of you would know him. He's a legend even outside of blues circles

Albert Collins

BIOGRAPHY:
There has never been and may never be again a bluesman quite like Albert Collins. "The Master Of The Telecaster" was born on October 1, 1932, in Leona, Texas. A cousin of the legendary Lightnin' Hopkins, Collins emerged with a blues sound and style all his own, featuring a combination of icy echo, shattering, ringing, sustained high notes, an ultra-percussive right-hand attack, and an unheard-of minor key guitar tuning (taught to him by his cousin Willow Young). Deeply influenced by T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker and Gatemouth Brown, Collins absorbed the sounds of Mississippi, Chicago, and especially Texas. He formed his own band in 1952, packing clubs around Houston. In the early 1960s, Collins' "cool sound" instrumentals like the million-seller Frosty (recorded with a young Johnny Winter and Janis Joplin in attendance at the studio) and follow-ups Sno Cone and Thaw Out were all over R&B radio. Soon he was sharing stages with his idols Gatemouth Brown and T-Bone Walker.

Then, in the mid-'60s (following a move from Texas to Kansas City to California), Collins broke into the rock 'n' roll world, releasing three albums produced by members of Canned Heat, and began playing the San Francisco psychedelic circuit. But Albert's greatest success came after he signed with Alligator in 1978 and cut Ice Pickin'. It won the Best Blues Album of the Year Award from the Montreux Jazz Festival, and was nominated for a Grammy. His following Alligator albums helped earn Collins every award the blues world had to offer. And, along with Johnny Copeland and Robert Cray (who decided on a career as a bluesman after seeing Collins play his high school prom) Collins cut the Grammy-winning Showdown!.

Even after he was firmly established as a major modern bluesman, Collins never got too big for his fans and friends, and never took things easy. And he never relinquished the wheel of his battered tour bus that he loved to drive so much. Along with his band, The Icebreakers, Collins' live shows -- driven by his kinetic stage presence -- were legendary testaments to the power of the blues. With his untimely death in 1993, Albert Collins left behind a blues legacy that continues to amaze and delight blues fans all over the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf_OMiCKC5E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgKo5OgraJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lg9VPEQQ60

Another great guitarist, a master of intensity but has been diagnosed with depression for the last few years. a loss of a great blues talent.

Ronnie Earl:

"Ronnie Earl is one of those exceptions that prove the rule. He is not an African American from the Delta or Chicago. He is not a Texan whose first guitar was placed in his playpen. Ronnie Earl is a New Yorker who happened to be attending college in Boston where a friend took him to a Muddy Waters concert. Immediately after this show he took up the guitar and in only a couple of years he was playing before appreciative audiences. Not content to rely on his innate talent he has continued his intense study of his instrument....(from review of Still River by Toby Levy Copyright NY CD Blues - 1995)

Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Earl Horvath on March 10, 1953) is an American blues guitarist and music teacher.

Earl was born in New York City. He collected blues, jazz, rock and soul records while growing up. He studied music composition in college, and moved to Boston in 1975 to pursue a Master's Degree in Special Education, and teaching handicapped children. It was at this time that he attended a Muddy Waters concert at the now-defunct "Speakeasy". After seeing Muddy Waters perform in a close setting, Ronnie took up the blues guitar. He quickly began playing in the Boston blues scene. His big break came in 1981 when he replaced Duke Robillard as lead guitarist for the Providence, R.I band,Roomful of Blues. Both Earl and Robillard were based in Providence R.I. at this time. The technically deft and musically encyclopediac Robillard took Earl under his wing. The result was a jazzy, soulful blues style, as well as his slow burn style which fans found both mesmerizing and exhilerating. He began performing solo in 1986 in addition to playing with Roomful of Blues, and he released his first solo album on the Black Top label with a quartet that focused on Blues Instrumentals, which few artists had ever attempted. After leaving the band officially he began collaborations with contemporaries Ron Levy and Jerry Portnoy, Earl King, Jimmy Rogers, and Jimmy Witherspoon. It was also around this time that Ronnie got treatment for a substance-addiction. He became a vocal advocate for sobriety, even inviting audience members to his dressing room "One Day At A Time" meetings between sets at a bar. He began teaching guitar at Berklee College of Music in 1992, and has released instructional videos. In the early 1990s he resumed touring and recording several more albums on the Black Top label. His albums primarily consist of strong instrumental compositions and traditional covers. Playing in a bars became a burden for someone who worked hard to maintain his sobriety, and an increasingly demanding touring schedule added to the stress. In the late 90's , Ronnie was diagnosed with depression, forcing him to cut back on his performances. He continued to work actively as a teacher and instructor, and also performed at facilities for the mentally ill, reaching back to his days as a special education teacher. Additionally, depression and mental illness frequently plague the most gentle and creative souls in our society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvZvUPn6KAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4mKC7AJyj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiNeEwwkF5Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a3-_gbg7Ho

the clips dont really do him justice, but he is really the master of all blues styles and branches out into jazz and swing and RnB roots music. he manages to clone practically anybody, and yet retain his own style.


Duke Robillard: Putting Renewed emphasis on the Blues
Here’s a quick quiz:
What do Bob Dylan, Jay McShann, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Hammond, the late Jimmy Witherspoon, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, Roomful of Blues, and the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners all have in common?

Answer: Duke Robillard.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guitarist. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues, in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community.

The W.C. Handy Awards have named Robillard "Best Blues Guitarist" two years in a row (2000 and 2001), B.B. King says Duke’s "one of the great players," and the Houston Post called him "one of God’s guitarists." And the New York Times says Robillard is "a soloist of stunning force and originality."

None of that goes to Robillard’s head. He’s still on the road, still playing as many as 250 dates a year. And still proving, night after night, that his true talent is bringing people out to hear the music, appreciate the show, and dance to the blues.

Duke had his first band in high school — he was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island — and he was fascinated from the beginning by the ways in which jazz, swing, and the blues were linked. In 1967, he formed Roomful of Blues, and the band was tight enough and tough enough to accompany two of its heroes, Big Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on record and in live appearances.

Always ahead of his time, Duke’s first band pre-dated the renewed interest in jump blues by more than a decade — and almost 20 years later, in 1986, when he recorded with jazz sax master Scott Hamilton, he recorded a collection of classic big band tunes from the ’30s and ’40s, thus skillfully pre-dating the neo-Swing craze of the mid ’90s.

Roomful of Blues — which still continues, a quarter of a century later — gave Duke his first exposure to a wide public, and when he left after a dozen years, he played briefly with rockabilly king Robert Gordon, then cut two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling collection of former members of Muddy Waters’ band). He led his own band until 1990, and then replaced Jimmy Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

In 1993, as he was about to sign a world-wide recording deal with Virgin/Pointblank, he met Holger Petersen, head of the Canadian independent label Stony Plain, at a folk festival in Winnipeg. In conversation, he mentioned he wanted to record a complete album of blues, without the r&b and jazz influences of his work to date.

Petersen was interested; Virgin gave the go-ahead, and the resulting album, Duke’s Blues, earned rave reviews. It was so successful, in fact, that Virgin soon licensed the record from Stony Plain and released it around the world (except in Canada, where it continues in the Canadian company’s catalogue.

In the years since his relationship with the Canadian label has been astonishingly fruitful. As a solo artist, he has released five records with the label — including his latest "all-blues" outing Living With the Blues to be released in early 2002.

Just as remarkable have been the projects he has produced (and played on) for Stony Plain, including two albums with the late Jimmy Witherspoon, two with Kansas City piano king Jay McShann, comeback CDs for Billy Boy Arnold and Rosco Gordon, a swinging confection with the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners, and a superb album of guitar duets with the jazz legend Herb Ellis.

As if this growing catalogue was not enough, he has found time to share studio gigs with Bob Dylan (the Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out of Mind sessions), Ruth Brown, the late Johnny Adams, John Hammond, Pinetop Perkins, and Ronnie Earl, among many others. He now has his own 24-track studio in his home, and he has become deeply involved in graphic design and photography as well as record production.

Duke Robillard is a man in command of a full range of creative talents — unique in the blues, and rare in the music industry as a whole. He is, in fact, a complete artist at the height of his power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoTdYd1LQ7A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-bU7ZPwoUI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duZZkWg77Ec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Badr8UW1o6k

well, if you've even remotely dipped into blues, you should know this guy. of modern times, probably the most original soloist, kind of a 50s style guitar soloing, a bit of texas but all him. his style breaks free from anything most blues listeners had heard of before 1994.

Jimmie Vaughan

Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan (born on March 20, 1951 in Dallas, Texas) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is the older brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Jimmie Vaughan's style was influenced by Freddie King who gave him personal advice. Also two other blues guitarists, Albert King and B. B. King, were important influences. Johnny "Guitar" Watson was another important early influence (Jimmie says that he and his younger brother Stevie Ray Vaughan studied Johnny "Guitar" Watson more than any other single guitarist).[citation needed]

In the late 1960s, Jimmie Vaughan and Paul Ray were playing at an East Austin club, when future blues legend and Austin, Texas native W. C. Clark sat in on bass guitar with the younger Austin locals. Clark was at the time on tour as a member of the R&B Joe Tex Band. After the session playing with Vaughan and Ray, Clark changed his mind about Austin blues having died, and two weeks later he left Joe Tex and moved back to Austin, where he then went on to develop his reputation as the "Godfather of Austin Blues." [1]

In the 1970s Clark formed several Austin bands with various names, which included as members Jimmie Vaughan, Jimmie's brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lou Ann Barton and Angela Strehli.

Jimmie Vaughan developed his own personal style that is easily recognized. He formed the band The Fabulous Thunderbirds with singer and harpist Kim Wilson, bassist Keith Fergusson, and drummer Mike Buck. (The initial Fabulous Thunderbirds members were all proteges of Austin, Texas blues club owner, Clifford Antone.) The band's first four albums, released between 1979 and 1983, are ranked among the most important 'white blues' recordings. These early albums did not sell well, so the band was left out without a recording contract for a couple of years (during the times when Jimmie's younger brother achieved popular success).

The Fabulous Thunderbirds got a new contract in 1986 and made several albums that featured more commercial pop-music sound and production styles. Jimmie left the band in 1989 and made a "duo album" called Family Style with his younger brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Before the album was released, Stevie died in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin on August 27, 1990. The album was released a few days after the tragic accident (the listed artist on the album was "Vaughan Brothers"). The album was light blues-influenced rock with Jimmie singing on several tracks.

Vaughan released his first solo album Strange Pleasure in 1994. The album contained a song "Six Strings Down" that was dedicated to the memory of his brother. He has continued his solo career since then. Vaughan's solo albums contain mostly blues-rock material that he writes himself.

In 2001, Vaughan paid an installment on his (and the Fabulous Thunderbirds') huge debt to harmonica swamp blues when he contributed guitar to the Lazy Lester album Blues Stop Knockin'.

Since 1997 Fender has produced a Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Stratocaster.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MriFbndNvnw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_GfyW2sQQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E096SeESbK8

Willie Dixon

Probably the most important blues figure in the history of blues music. A legend and probably the best blues bassist alive or dead.

Willie Dixon
Induction Year: 1994
Induction Category: Early Influence


"Inductee: Willie Dixon (bass, vocals; born July 1, 1915, died January 29, 1992)

Willie Dixon has been called “the poet laureate of the blues” and “the father of modern Chicago blues.” He was indisputably the pre-eminent blues songwriter of his era, credited with writing more than 500 songs by the end of his life. Moreover, Dixon is a towering figure in the history and creation of Chicago blues on other fronts. While on staff at Chess Records, Dixon produced, arranged, and played bass on sessions for Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, and others. In no small way, he served as a crucial link between the blues and rock and roll.

Born in 1915 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Dixon began rhyming, singing and writing songs in his youth. He was exposed to a variety of music - gospel, blues, country & western - which served as the seeds for the symbiotic music he would later make in Chicago. Moving to the city in 1936, he had a brief career as a boxer and then skirmished with the U.S. Army, refusing induction on the grounds he was a conscientious objector. His early forays on the Chicago music scene included stints with the Five Breezes, the Four Jumps of Jive and the Big Three Trio, all of which made records. The Big Three Trio, in particular, are noteworthy for having brought harmony singing to the blues. Dixon really found his niche at Chess, where he was allowed to develop as a recording artist, session musician, in-house songwriter and staff musician beginning in 1951.

Some of the now-classic songs he wrote for others during his lengthy tenure at Chess include “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I’m Ready” and “I Just Want to Make Love For You” (Muddy Waters); “Back Door Man,” “Spoonful” and “I Ain’t Superstitious” (Howlin’ Wolf), “My Babe” (Little Walter); and “Wang Dang Doodle” (Koko Taylor). Though he didn’t write for Chuck Berry, Dixon played bass on most of his early records. For a few years in the late Fifties, he also wrote for and worked with artists on the crosstown Cobra label, including such fledgling bluesmen as Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Magic Sam.

Dixon returned to Chess in 1959, and the Sixties saw the full flowering of his talents there. In addition, to writing and producing some of his greatest works during that decade, he recorded a series of albums in a duet format with Memphis Slim on the Folkways, Verve and Battles labels. His first album as a solo artist, Willie’s Blues, appeared on the Bluesville label in 1960. In his capacity as staff producer at Chess, he wouldn’t get around to releasing a followup album under his own name until I Am the Blues appeared on Columbia Records in 1970. Albums followed from him at more regular intervals in subsequent years, culminating in the 1988 release of Hidden Charms, which won Dixon a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Recording.

In his later years, Willie Dixon became a tireless ambassador of the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. The organization works to preserve the blues’ legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Speaking with the simple eloquence that was a hallmark of his songs, Dixon put it like this: “The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues.”

Willie Dixon published his autobiography, I Am the Blues, in 1989 – a year after Chess Records released Willie Dixon: The Chess Box, a two-disc set that included Dixon’s greatest songs as performed by the artists who’d made them famous – Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Lowell Fulson – and Dixon himself.”

TIMELINE
July 1, 1915: Willie Dixon is born in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

1937: Willie Dixon wins the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (Novice Division).

1940: Willie Dixon makes his first recordings, for Bluebird Records, as part of the Chicago-based Five Breezes.

1941: Willie Dixon is jailed for refusing induction into the armed forces. Military personnel escort him from the stage of Chicago’s Pink Poodle club. “I told them I was a conscientious objector and wasn’t gonna fight for anybody,” said Dixon.

1946: Willie Dixon forms the Big Three Trio with pianist/singer Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston and guitarist Bernardo Dennis (replaced a year later by Ollie Crawford). They sing blues and standards and travel widely.

March 27, 1948: “Ebony Rhapsody,” by Rosetta Howard, enters the R&B chart, where it will reach #8. Backing Howard is the Big Three Trio, featuring bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon.

March 13, 1954: “Hoochie Coochie Man,” written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Muddy Waters – with Dixon playing bass – enters the R&B chart. It will reach #3, which will make it the highest-charting of Waters’ 14 Top Ten R&B hits.

March 12, 1955: “My Babe,” by Chicago blues singer and harmonica player Little Walter, enters the R&B singles chart, which it will top for five weeks. The song was written by Willie Dixon, who also plays bass on the track.

September 10, 1955: Willie Dixon cracks the R&B charts as a recording artist for the one and only time in his career with “Walking the Blues,” released on Chess Records’ sister label, Checker.

1959: Chicago blues legend Willie Dixon returns to Chess Records after a three-year hiatus, during which he produced an impressive roster of blues artists – including Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Magic Sam – for crosstown rival Cobra Records.

1960: Howlin’ Wolf records “Spoonful” and “Back Door Man” - two classic blues songs, both written and produced by Willie Dixon – for Chess Records.

1962: Muddy Waters records Willie Dixon’s “You Shook Me,” a classic blues that will later be covered by Led Zeppelin on their self-titled debut album.

April 16, 1966: Koko Taylor’s recording of “Wang Dang Doodle,” written and produced by Willie Dixon, enters the R&B chart, where it will peak at #4.

1977: As the result of a legal settlement, Willie Dixon is set to receive “increased publishing royalties and the gradual return of the copyrights on all of his songs,” according to biography Don Snowden.

1984: Willie Dixon founds the Blues Heaven Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to promote the blues and to provide scholarships, royalty recovery advice, emergency assistance to blues musicians in need.

1988: ‘Willie Dixon: The Chess Box’ - a two-CD, 36-song box set spanning the songwriter, bassist and producer’s Chess Records years - is released.

February 22, 1989: Willie Dixon wins a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Recording for his 1988 album ‘Hidden Charms.’

May 16, 1990: Thanks to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, the former Chess Records Office and Studio at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago is officially recognized as a protected Chicago Landmark.

January 29, 1992: Willie Dixon dies of heart failure in Burbank, CA.

January 19, 1995: Willie Dixon is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the ninth annual induction dinner. Chuck Berry is his presenter.

1997: Through the efforts of Marie Dixon – the late Willie Dixon’s wife – and others, the Blues Heaven Foundation moves into the restored Chess Records Studios at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Essential Recordings
(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man, by Muddy Waters
Spoonful, by Howlin’ Wolf
Wang Dang Doodle, by Koko Taylor
Back Door Man, by Howlin’ Wolf
I Just Want to Make Love to You, by Muddy Waters
My Babe, by Little Walter
You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover, by Bo Diddley
Little Red Rooster, by Howlin’ Wolf
Pain in My Heart, by Willie Dixon
Signifying Monkey, by the Big Three Trio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyvmdFCe0qE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcqqyL-Y6Go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsbEN2ynPEM

I love stuff by kenny wayne shepherd. Especially the tracks on his Ledbetter heights CD

sleepykitty said:

I love stuff by kenny wayne shepherd. Especially the tracks on his Ledbetter heights CD

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yeah, he's an SRV disciple. was the john mayer of his day back then. of course, John mayer is through the roof now. hehe
am focusing on the lesser known talents though

Howling Wolf

Probably one of the four greatest blues legends to ever set foot on this earth. its abit hard to explain why he was so influential but i have cut and paste the many famous bands who have ripped off his songs. he was first and foremost a great songwriter.

The great Howling Wolf:

Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known as Howlin' Wolf or sometimes, The Howlin' Wolf, was an influential blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player.

Covers
Countless artists have recorded cover versions of Howlin' Wolf songs; listed below are some the recordings:

Megadeth covered "I Ain't Superstitious" on their album Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
"Little Red Rooster" was covered by Sam Cooke in 1963, The Doors (which appears on their live album Alive, She Cried), and by The Rolling Stones in 1964.
Both The Yardbirds and The Animals covered "Smokestack Lightning" in 1964 and 1966 respectively.
Little Feat covered "Forty-Four Blues / How Many More Years" for their first, self titled album, Little Feat
Led Zeppelin covered "Killing Floor" in 1968-69 concerts and used the song as the basis for "The Lemon Song" on Led Zeppelin II. "Smokestack Lightning" and "How Many More Years" served as partial blueprints for "How Many More Times" on their 1969 debut album.
The Doors covered "Back Door Man" for their first, self titled album, The Doors
The Electric Prunes regularly covered "Smokestack Lightnin'" in their live shows, a recording of which can be found on their Stockholm '67 LP.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience covered "Killing Floor" at a BBC Saturday Club radio session in 1967, a recording of which is available on their 1998 BBC Sessions compilation, and opened with it at the Monterey Pop Festival (also in 1967). This song also served as the first jam between Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton when they first met at Ronnie Scott's pub in London.
Cream also covered one of his songs on their double-album Wheels of Fire. They also covered his song, "Spoonful". On the first (studio) disc, Cream covered "Sitting on Top of the World". This song has also been covered by Bob Dylan in the 1992 album Good as I been to you. Howlin' Wolf's own version was a cover of the 1930 classic original by the Mississippi Sheiks.
Soundgarden covered "Smokestack Lightning" on their first album Ultramega OK.
Clutch covers "Who's Been Talking" on their 2005 release Robot Hive/Exodus.
Stevie Ray Vaughan covered three Howlin' Wolf songs on his studio albums: "Tell Me" appears on Texas Flood; "You'll be mine" (written by Willie Dixon) on Soul to Soul and "Love Me Darlin'" on In Step. Vaughan also played "Shake for me" (written by W.Dixon) on the live album In the Beginning, even copying the original guitar solo, played by Hubert Sumlin and "I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)" can be found from Live-Alive album.
George Thorogood covered "Highway 49" and "Smokestack Lightning" on Born to be Bad in 1988. He also covered "Howlin' for My Baby" in 1993 on Haircut.
On The Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD, "Killing Floor" was performed by Hubert Sumlin, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan. It is quite possible that the guitar riff from the song was written by Sumlin.
"Little Red Rooster" was covered by British alternative band The Jesus and Mary Chain on their Sound of Speed album
PJ Harvey covered "Wang Dang Doodle" in her early years and was released on a 2002 b-sides & rarities album
Tom Waits has covered "Who's Been Talking?" several times during live performances.
Iron & Wine released a live cover of "Smokestack Lightning" on a compilation CD entitled Hope Isn't a Word that came with issue 15 of the magazine Comes With a Smile.
Monster Magnet performed their own rendition of "Evil" on their 1993 album, Superjudge
Smokestack Lightning was a staple of early Grateful Dead shows during the Pigpen era, and was revived by the band (with Bob Weir on vocals) during the 1990's. The Dead also performed "Little Red Rooster", "Wang Dang Doodle", "I Ain't Superstitious" and "Meet Me In The Bottom" at various points in their career.
Cactus (band) recorded their version of the song "Evil" on their 1971 album Restrictions. It also appeared on their best-of album entitled Cactology.
The Who covered Smokestack Lightning in a medley with Shakin' All Over. Smokestack Lightning was edited out of the version of Shakin' All Over that appeared on the album Live At Leeds
Jeff Beck covered "I Ain't Superstitious" in his album "Truth"
The Radiators (US) recorded "Sittin' On Top Of The World" on their live double CD Earth vs. The Radiators: the First 25 (album). They have covered many Howlin' Wolf songs in their 4200 known live performances. "Forty-Four Blues" and "Sittin' On Top Of The World" are long-time staples of their live shows, having been performed over 100 times each. Other Howlin' Wolf songs performed live by the Radiators include: "Built For Comfort", "Back Door Man", "Down In The Bottom", "Howlin' For My Baby", "Killing Floor", "Little Red Rooster", "Shake For Me", "Smokestack Lightning", "Spoonful", "Wang Dang Doodle" and "Who's Been Talkin'".
The Derek Trucks Band covers "Fourty Four" on his 'Out of the Madness' album and regularly live, and recently has covered "Down In The Bottom" in their live shows.

Career
Howlin' Wolf quickly became a local celebrity, and soon began working with a band that included both Willie Johnson and guitarist Pat Hare. His first recordings came in 1951, when he was simultaneously signed with the Bihari brothers at Modern Records and to Leonard Chess' Chess Records. Chess issued Howlin' Wolf's How Many More Years in August 1951; Wolf also recorded sides for Modern, with Ike Turner, in late 1951 and early 1952. Chess eventually won the war over the singer, and Wolf settled in Chicago, Illinois c. 1953. Upon arriving in Chicago, he assembled a new band, recruiting Chicagoan Joseph Leon "Jody" Williams from Memphis Slim's band as his first guitarist. Within a year Wolf enticed guitarist Hubert Sumlin to leave Memphis and join him in Chicago; Sumlin's terse, curlicued solos perfectly complemented Burnett's huge voice and surprisingly subtle phrasing. Although the line up of Wolf's band would change regularly over the years, and he employed many different guitarists both on recordings and in live performance, including Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Lee Cooper, L.D. McGhee, Otis "Big Smokey" Smother, his brother Abe "Little Smokey" Smothers, Jimmy Rogers, Freddie "Abu Talib" Robinson, and Buddy Guy, among others, Sumlin remained a member of the band (except for a couple of short absences) for the rest of Wolf's career, and is the guitarist most often associated with the Chicago Howlin' Wolf sound.

In the 1950s Wolf had four songs that qualified as "hits" on the Billboard national R&B charts: "How Many More Years", his first and biggest hit, made it to #4 in 1951; its flip side, "Moanin' at Midnight", made it to #10 the same year; "Smoke Stack Lightning" charted for three weeks in 1956, peaking at #8; and "I Asked For Water" appeared on the charts for one week in 1956, in the #8 position.

His 1962 album Howlin' Wolf is a famous and influential blues album, often referred to as "The Rocking Chair album" because of its cover illustration depicting an acoustic guitar leaning against a rocking chair. This album contained "Wang Dang Doodle", "Goin' Down Slow", "Spoonful", and "Little Red Rooster", songs which found their way into the repertoires of British and American bands infatuated with Chicago blues. In 1964 he toured Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festival tour produced by German promoters Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau. In 1965 he appeared on the television show Shindig at the insistence of the Rolling Stones, who were scheduled to appear on the same program and who had covered "Little Red Rooster" on an early album. He was often backed on records by bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon who authored such Howlin' Wolf standards as "Spoonful", "I Ain't Superstitious", "Little Red Rooster", "Back Door Man", "Evil", "Wang Dang Doodle" (later recorded by Koko Taylor), and others.

In 1971, Howlin' Wolf and his long-time guitarist Hubert Sumlin traveled to London to record the Howlin' Wolf London Sessions LP. British blues/rock musicians Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts played alongside the Wolf on this album. He recorded his last album for Chess, The Back Door Wolf, in 1973. Chess released a Howlin' Wolf compilation album, Chess Masters, in 1981.

At 6 foot, 6 inches (198cm) and close to 300 pounds (136 kg), he was an imposing presence with one of the loudest and most memorable voices of all the "classic" 1950s Chicago blues singers. Howlin' Wolf's voice has been compared to "the sound of heavy machinery operating on a gravel road". Although the two were reportedly not that different in actual personality, this rough edged, slightly fearsome musical style is often contrasted with the less harsh but still powerful presentation of his contemporary, Muddy Waters, to describe the two pillars of the Chicago Blues representing the two sides of the music.

Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), Little Walter Jacobs and Muddy Waters are usually regarded in retrospect as the greatest blues artists who recorded for Chess in Chicago. Sam Phillips once remarked of Chester Arthur Burnett, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.' " In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #51 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ou-6A3MKow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux6N00CwudA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A_iNOqxRVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giurVQAraWE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWOT6lBknx0

Big Mama Thornton

The Woman who wrote the song that catapulted blues into mainstream consciousness and made Elvis immortal for life.
Her voice is amazing and I would drop everything for a singer who sang blues that way


Willa Mae ("Big Mama") Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) was an American Texas blues, R&B singer, and songwriter. She was the original singer to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million copies. Three years later, Elvis Presley recorded the Rock 'n' roll version of the song. In a similar occurrence, she wrote and recorded "Ball n' Chain," which became a hit for her. Janis Joplin, a rock and roll singer from Texas, later recorded "Ball and Chain," and it became a huge success in the late 1960s.

Early life
Thornton was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Her introduction to music, as with many fellow blues legends, started in the Baptist church. The daughter of a minister, and her mother was a church singer. She and her six siblings began to sing at a very early age. Thornton's musical aspirations led her to leave Montgomery in 1941, after her mother's death, when she was just fourteen, and joined the Georgia-based Hot Harlem Revue. Her seven-year tenure with the Revue gave her valuable singing and stage experience and enabled her to tour the South. In 1948, settled in Houston, Texas, where she hoped to further her career as a singer. Willa Mae was also a self-taught drummer and harmonica player and frequently played both instruments onstage.

Career
Thornton began her recording career in Houston, signing a contract with Peacock Records in 1951. While working with another Peacock artist Johnny Otis, she recorded "Hound Dog," a song composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller had given her in Los Angeles. Although it made her a star, she saw little of its profits. She continued to record for Peacock until 1957 and performed with R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips. Her career began to fade in the late '50s and early '60s. She left Houston and relocated in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she mostly played local blues clubs. In 1954, Thornton was one of two witnesses to the death of blues singer Johnny Ace.

In 1966 Thornton recorded Big Mama Thornton With The Muddy Waters Blues Band, with Muddy Waters guitar, Sammy Lawhorn (guitar); James Cotton (harmonica); Otis Spann (piano); Luther Johnson (bass guitar); and Francis Clay (drums). Song included, "Everything Gonna Be Alright", "Big Mama's Blues", "I'm Feeling Alright", Everything Gonna Be Alright", "Big Mama's Bumble Bee Blues", "Looking The World Over", 'Big Mama's Shuffle', and "Since I Fell For You", just to name a few.

Her Ball n' Chain album in 1968 was with Lightnin' Hopkins guitar, and Larry Williams vocals, included songs "Hound Dog", "Wade in the Water", "Little Red Rooster", "Ball n' Chain", "Money Taker", "Prison Blues". "Hound Dog" was written in 1952 for Thornton as a country blues tune written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, produced by Johnny Otis, and went to number one on the R&B chart.

Thornton's last album was Jail (1972) for Vanguard Records, vividly captures her charm during a couple of mid-'70s gigs at two northwestern prisons. She becomes the talented leader of a blues ensemble that features sustained jams from George "Harmonica" Smith, and guitarists B. Huston and Steve Wachsman, drummer Todd Nelson, saxophonist Bill Potter, bassist Bruce Sieverson, and pianist J.D. Nicholas.

Thornton played at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival, '66 and '68, and the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1979. Appeared on stages from New York City's famed Apollo Theater in 1952, to the Kool Newport Jazz Festival in 1980. In 1965 she performed with the American Folk Blues Festival package in Europe.[10] While in England that year she recorded Big Mama Thorton in Europe and followed it up the next year in San Francisco with Big Mama Thornton with the Chicago Blues Band. Both albums came out on the Arhoolie label. Thornton continued to record for Vanguard, Mercury, and other small labels in the '70s and to work the blues festival circuit until death in 1984, the same year she was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame. She was nominated for the Blues Music Awards six times during her career. In addition to "Ball n' Chain" and "They Call Me Big Mama," Thornton wrote twenty other blues songs.

Death
On July 25, 1984, Willie Mae Thornton died in Los Angeles of heart and liver complications, probably brought on by years of alcohol abuse which had reduced the one-time 350-pound "Big Mama" Thornton to a mere ninety-five pounds.[13] Johnny Otis conducted her funeral services, and she was laid to rest in the famous Inglewood Park Cemetery,[14] along with a number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities.


Legacy
As an influence over the music and musicians which followed her, her importance cannot be overstated. Her name and legacy will forever remain amongst the very greatest of blues legends. Thornton's mighty voice, take-no-guff attitude, and incendiary stage performances influenced generations of blues and rock singers and carried on the tradition of tough "blues mamas" like Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, and Ma Rainey.

In 2007, in the movie "Hounddog", singer Jill Scott played "Big Mama" Thornton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcK6Ct22Y8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzOdr0lcF2A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XUAg1_A7IE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXoRljXZwK0

how about allman brothers?

jemarcus said:

how about allman brothers?

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most of their sound is blues rock. so am concentrating on straightahead blues artistes more.
its like people going to crazy elephant and thinking that the music played there is blues. its not. its blues rock. but its nice and rocking blues rock

Memphis Slim

One of the blues piano greats who could *really* croon and do great renditions of classic blues songs.

Memphis Slim (3 September 1915, Memphis, Tennessee – 24 February 1988, Paris, France [1]) was a blues pianist and singer.


[edit] Life and career
His birth name was John Len Chatman, although he claimed to be have been born Peter Chatman. It is commonly believed, though, that he took the name to honour of his father, Peter Chatman Sr., when he first recorded for Okeh Records in 1940. Although he performed under the name Memphis Slim for most of his career, he continued to publish songs under the name Peter Chatman.

A prolific artist, Memphis Slim ranks with the greatest blues pianists of all time. Big Bill Broonzy advised him early in his career to develop a style of his own, instead of imitating his idol, Roosevelt Sykes.

Memphis Slim took his name from Memphis, Tennessee, where he was born and raised. Memphis Slim got his start playing the blues at the Midway Café, at 357 Beale Street (southeast corner of Fourth and Beale Street's) in Memphis in 1931. After his early career in Memphis, where he emulated barrelhouse piano players like Roosevelt Sykes and Speckled Red, he moved to Chicago, Illinois and recorded for Okeh Records (as Peter Chatman & His Washboard Band) in 1940. The same year he also recorded for Bluebird Records, billed as Memphis Slim. He played piano as Big Bill Broonzy's partner until 1944. This exposure gave Slim opportunities not only in the juke joints he had been playing, but also in the "uptown" nightclubs.

After World War II Slim joined Hy-Tone Records, cutting eight tracks that were later picked up by [ing Records. Lee Egalnick's Miracle label recorded the pianist in 1947; backed by his jumping band, the House Rockers (its members usually included saxophonists Alex Atkins and Ernest Cotton), Slim recorded his classics "Lend Me Your Love" and "Rockin' the House." The next year brought the landmark "Nobody Loves Me" (better known via subsequent covers by Lowell Fulson, Big Joe Williams, and B. B. King as "Everyday I Have the Blues") and the heartbroken "Messin' Around (With the Blues)."

In 1949, Slim enjoyed an R&B number 1 with "Messin' Around".[2] The pianist kept on label-hopping, moving from Miracle to Peacock to Premium (where he recorded the first version of the down-tempo blues "Mother Earth") to Chess to Mercury before staying put at Chicago's United Records from 1952 to 1954. This was a particularly fertile period for the pianist; he recruited his first permanent guitarist, Matt Murphy, who performed "The Come Back," "Sassy Mae," and "Memphis Slim U.S.A." At this time he also worked with the songwriter and bassman, Willie Dixon.

In all, he recorded more than 20 albums under his own name, and appeared on many more recordings as a sideman.

Slim left the United States for good in 1962. A tour of Europe, in partnership with bassist Willie Dixon a couple of years earlier, had so intrigued the pianist that he moved permanently to Paris. There he had more recording and touring possibilities, plus he was treated with greater respect than in the United States. He remained there until his death in 1988.

In the last years of his life, he teamed up with respected jazz drummer George Collier. The two toured Europe together and became friends. After Collier in August 1987, Slim appeared in public very little. Two years before his death, Slim was named a Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France. In addition, the U.S. Senate honored Slim with the title of Ambassador-at-Large of Good Will.[3]

Memphis Slim died on 24 February 1988, of renal failure[4] in Paris, at the age of 72. During his lifetime, he cut over 500 recordings and influenced blues pianists that followed him for decades.[citation needed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk6eZK4GyY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-D8x0xcwHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaBopdUz_FY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-2s7icYkcc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj26jK9vGuk